The Chow Mein Conundrum

I love chow mein, but not all Chinese restaurants serve the same type.  It’s either a 10/10 meal for me, or a 2/10 meal, depending on which version they serve.  Lo mein, on the other hand, is almost always a respectable 7/10.  It’s never amazing, but it’s never awful.

Since eating Chinese food is such a rare treat I’m left with what I call The Chow Mein Conundrum.  Do I play it safe and order lo mein, or do I risk it and order chow mein?  In other words, do I go for what I really want and risk having an awful meal, or do I play it safe and get the guaranteed pretty good meal?  This is a lot like life.

Life itself is a rare occasion.

Sometimes we’re faced with the decision to either play it safe or really go for it.  The rarer the opportunity the higher the stakes.  Do we turn down the steady job that we don’t really love in order to pursue our dream job?  Do we gather our courage and ask our crush out risking embarrassment? OR do we stay safely on the sidelines content to have a 7/10 life?

I recently came to a realization in regards to my Chinese food conundrum:

For years I only ordered lo mein because I was afraid of the awful feeling I’d get when I was served bad chow mein.  The thing is, I never really remember the times I got lo mein.  It was a fine, but forgettable meal.  I was choosing lo mein, not out of love for lo mein, but out of fear of bad chow mein.  I almost always remember the places and meals where I got good chow mein.  I’ve had enough forgettable meals.

From now on, I will always get the chow mein.

How many times have you wanted to put yourself out there but didn’t because you were afraid of failure?  Failure in our day to day lives is often blown out of proportion.  We sit on the sidelines because we’re afraid of failure. Ultimately, failure is sitting on the sidelines never playing the game.

I say get up on stage and sing the song, share your poem, write the book, ask your crush out, apply for that dream job.  Maybe you fall flat on your face and it’s embarrassing and it sucks, but if you don’t even try it’ll be just another forgettable moment.  Don’t live a life of forgettable moments.

When you’re making decisions it’s important to ask yourself if you’re choosing chow mein or lo mein.

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